Fluid temperature controlling device



April 1948. L. E. SKELLY ETAL 2,439,871

FLUID TEMPERATURE CONTROLLING DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 18, 1942 3Sheets-Sheet 1 L. E. SKELLY ETAL FLUID TEMPERATURE CONTROLLING DEVICEOriginal Filed Sept; 18, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 1948. L. E. SKELLYETAL FLUIt) TEMPERATURE CONTROLLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 OriginalFiled Sept.

Patented Apr. 20, 1948 Lawrence E. Skelly, New Haven, Coma, and HowardF. Brinen, Racine, Wis., assign'ors to Young Radiator Company, Racine,Wis a corporation oi. Wisconsin Original application September 1a, 1942,Serial No. 458,904. Divided and this application J anua'ry s, 1945,Serial No. 571,814 4 In the operation of modern heavy-type automotiveequipment, propelled by internal combustion engines, it has becomeincreasingly imperative 'to provide highly effective means forcontrolling the temperature of the lubricating oil required for suchengines. A mechanism for con- 1 Claim. (Cl. 2572) trolling oiltemperatures, in order to be a'ccept-.

able, must embody four characteristics. First, it must secure a quickthaw-out and initial warmup of congealed oil in the normal oil flowpath. Second, it must possess'high efiiciencyin heat dissipation duringexceptional'as well as normal service demands. Third, it must be capableof using either air or water as a cooling medium.

yet capable of adaptation for use with aircraft engines; to provide afluid temperature control device of this kind constructed with dualfluid flow paths. of differing heat exchange capacities and equippedwith regulating means for automatically directing the mass flow of fluidthrough such alternative paths depending upon the viscous condition ofthe fluid and the demands of the engine; to provide improved means forfacilitating the thawing out of one of said fluid-flow paths when thefluid is flowing through the other fluid-flow path and subsequentlycontinuing a partial flow of fluid through the other said fluidflow pathwhen the main new is directed through said one fluid-flow path; and toprovide a fluid temperature control device of this kind which is ofsimple and compact arrangement, and economical and effective inoperation;

A specific embodiment of this invention is shown in the drawings,wherein I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred form of the fluidtemperature control device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal cross-sectional view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end-view taken from the right of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-4 of Fig. 1.

Any suitable embodiment of this improved fluid temperature controllingdevice compris s a pair of headers 5 and 6 supported in appropriatespaced relationship by means of end plates i and 8 and connectedtogether by two groups of conduits or tubes 9 providing alternativefluid flow paths the passage of fluid through which is controlled by avalve mechanism in mounted in a housing ii secured at one end of theheader 6.

In the herein illustrated embodiment, the header 5 is in the form of acasting the open face of which is closed by means of a plate l 2 so asto form a single chamber communicating with all of the tubes 9, theupper ends of which extend through suitable flanged apertures formed inthe plate it. At one end of the header 5 is formed an inlet 53 throughwhich fluid enters the chamber.

The header 3, as herein shown, is likewise in the form of a castingacross the open face of which extends a plate It and inwardly of whichis secured a partition G5 which serves to divide the header 8 into twochambers l6 and ii having contiguous outlets providing communicationwith the valve housing i l, The plates l2 and id and the partition! 5have flanged apertures through which protrude the ends of the tubes 9.

Both of the headers 5 and 6 have lugs or extensions it formed thereonwhich permit the device to be suitably supported or mounted in operativeconnection with the system wherewith it is to control the fluid flow andthe consequent temperature thereof. I o

The tubes 9 are herein shown to be of. the flat type so extensively usedin heat exchange devices of this kind, and are arranged in two groups.The first group of tubes comprises the majority of the tubes 9 whichextend through and have their ends terminating slightly inwardly of theinner faces of the plates i2 and hi. These tubes, therefore, providedirect communication between the one chamber of the header 5 and theinner chamber ll of the header 6. The other group of tubes l 9 also havetheir upper ends extending through the header plate i2 but their lowerends continue beyond the plate It and through the partition l5terminating slightly inwardly thereof. These tubes, thus, providecommunication between the single chamber of header 5 and the lowerchamber ll; of the header 6. As clearly shown by Figs. 2 and 4 thissecond group of tubes is small in number compared with the tubes in thefirst-mentioned group, As will be further tioned group.

Internal fins 20} preferably of the type shown vin Patent No. 2,359,288.issued October 3, 1944,

are incorporated in all of the tubes 3 of the first group. Obviously,these fins increase the heatexchange surface exposed to the fluid flowtherethrough and naturally serve to accelerate the dissipation of heatfrom the fluid passing through them. the other hand the tubes l9, havingno internal fins, present an open flow path for fluid and one thatdissipates a much lesser amount heat from such fluid.

All of the tubes 3 extend through and have intimate physical contactwith a series of closely spaced fins 2| arranged between and parallel tothe headers 5 and .6. These provide a-path for heat transference betweenthe tubes 3 and from the fluid in the tubes to another fluid passingtransversely around and between the fins 2| and tubes 3.

The valve housing H is secured at one end of the header 6 so thatchambers 22 and 23, formed therein on opposite sides of the partition24, are in direct communication respectively with the chambers l6 and llof the header 6. '11 valve member 25 for controlling a port 26 in thepartition 24 is mounted on a thermostat 2'! which is suspended from acap 28 screwed into the housing A spring 29 provides relief for'thevalve member 25 to permit an unseating thereof if and when thethermostat should be actuated to inopportunely hold the valve 25 seatedagainst excessive pressure in the chamber.|6. An outlet 30 is providedin the housing II to which fluid is directed from the chambers 22 and23.

The thermostat 21 may be of any of the types generally used for similarpurposes.

The main feature of this invention, whereby it distinguishes fromapplication Ser. No. 458,904, now Patent No. 2,395,943, dated March 5,1946, filed September 18, 1942, of which this application is a division,involves the provision of a limited number of apertures 3| formed in thepartition l5 so as to provide communication between the chambers l6 andIT. The function of these apertures 3| is two-fold. Their first functionis to facilitate a thawing out of congealed oil in the chamber I'l.Their second function is to permit a partial flow of fluid through thetubes l9, when the major flow of fluid is being directed through saidinternally-finned tubes '9, and thereby continue to have the benefit ofthe heat transfer capacities of such tubes concurrently with the similaruse of all said internally-finned tubes.

If, in initiating the use of this heat exchange device, the oil isextremely viscous or perhaps congealed in the internally-finned tubes,the oil flow at the start will be through the unrestricted tubes l9 andthe chamber l6. During such oil flow the apertures 3| will cause jets ofhot oil to penetrate into the chamber l1 and accelerate the thawing outof the highly-viscous or congealed oil therein and thereby hasten theoil flow through the internally-finned tubes.

When the main oil flow is through the internally-finned tubes, were itnot for the arrangement of these apertures 3|, all flow of liquid.through the tubes l9 would be discontinued as soon as the valve 25 hadclosed the port 26. This would mean a complete loss of the heat transfercapacity of these tubes, so long as the valve 25 remained closed toforce the fluid to travel only through the chamber H.

In order to make the tubes I9 effective for thawing out theinternally-finned tubes, it is necessary to have the tubes l9 arrangedat fre- Although the heat transference of the fluid passing through theunobstructed tubes |-9 would be nothing comparable to that of fluidflowing through the internally-finned tubes, nevertheless, it willprovide an added cooling efiect that in some circumstances may besufllciently critical to keep the temperature of the fluid fiow below atoo high degree.

The operation of the device is believed to be more or less obvious.

Assuming the device is being used for cooling the lubricating oil for anengine, oil under pressure enters at l3. If this oil is of a lowtemperature its viscosity will be too high to permit ready flow throughthe internally-finned tubes. Or, the oil in these tubes may be socongealed that it will not. flow. Accordingly, the incoming oil willtend to seek the path of least resistance. Obviously this will bethrough the tubes IS. The oil being of low temperature, the thermostat21 will react to open the port 26 and allow the oil to flow readily fromthe chamber I8 out through the outlet 30. As the flow of the oil throughthis path continues its temperature will begin to rise. The heat of theoil passing through the unobstructed tubes l9 will be communicatedthrough the fins 2| to the internally-finned tubes 20. This will cause athawing of the highly-viscous or congealed oil in these tubes. Thisthawing out of the finned tubes will be supplemented and accelerated bythe jets of hot oil entering the chamber I! through the apertures 3|. Assoon as the oil in the internally-finned tubes is thawed enough to move,a flow of oil through these tubes into the chamber I! will parallel theflow of oil through the unobstructed tubes l9. The rising temperature ofthe oil passing-the thermostat 21 will cause it to react to graduallycut off the flow through the port 25.

As soon as the valve port 28 is closed the main oil flow will be fromthe single chamber of the header 5 through the internally-finned tubes 9to the internal chamber I! of the header 6 and out through the outlet30. However, because of the apertures 3| in the partition l5, the oil inthe unobstructed tubes l9 will continue to flow through the apertures 3|into the chamber l6. This partial circulation ofoil through the tubes Itwill continue to cause some dissipation of heat therefrom to supplementthe heat dissipation caused by the major flow of oil through theinternally finned tubes. Small though that heat dissipation may bethrough the tubes l9, it is material and at times may even be ofcritical significance.

Variations and modifications in the details'of the structure andarrangement of parts may be headers are connected together in opposedrelaheader and the other chamber of said doublechamber header, amultiplicity of closely-spaced fins through which said tubes extend inheat transfer relationship, a valve housing with outlet connected tosaid double-chamber header outwardly oi the outlets for said chambers,said valve housing being partitioned to provide valve chamberscommunicating respectively with said header chambers and having a portaflording communication between said valve-housing chambers, and athermostatically-operated valve exposed in said valve-housing to theflow of oil from both of said header chamber outlets to saidvalvehouslng outlet, said valve being normally biased to open saidpartition port when the oil flow is tree to ilow throuch said occasionaltubes at a time when the oil flow oi tubes is retarded by the viscosityoi the oil, the partition separating the chambers of said double-ch berheader having apertures providing comm cation between said chambers soas to permit a continuous small flow of oil from said other chamber tosaid one chamber of said double-chamber header.

' LAWRENCE E. SKEILY. HOWARD F. BRINEN.

REFERENCES man UNITED STATES PATENTS.

Number Name Date 2,007,590 Baillio July 9, 1935 2,289,097 Brinen July 7,1942 2,293,960 Young--4. Aug. 25, 1942 2,322,047 Mormile June 15, 19432,352,704 Garner July 4, 1944 2,376,198 Shaw May 15, 1945 through saidremainder

